In plain words
No one will misuse them.
The very first is the element earth. In the element earth, divinity is present in the form of consciousness. Second: in the element water it is present in the form of prajñā. Worn down by thirst in every way, a man half forgets himself. At such a time he does not know where he is falling or what he is doing. Give him a cup of cold water, and the moment he drinks it prajñā returns. That is why the Paramātma is present in the element water in the form of prajñā. Next, the element fire. In the element fire the Paramātma is present in the form of warning: tasmāt jāgrata, tasmāt jāgrata. Air is the fourth element. In air the Paramātma is present in the form of prāṇa. Without prāṇa, air is of no use. The fifth is space. In the element space, God is present in the form of Oṃkāra. In these forms, one by one, the Paramātma is present in the five elements. That is why we are able to live on in the world. Because these five elements are in everyone, it was said, ‘Īśvaras sarvabhūtānāṃ’.
They say God is in everyone; then why is He not seen? Near Madras and near Bombay there is a great sea. In a glass there is a little water. In a pot, too, there is water. In a dirty pit, too, there is water. Wherever there is water, the reflection of the sun is surely there. Even in the water in a glass the sun is seen clearly, but in so vast a sea the sun is not seen clearly! What is the reason? The sea is in motion, without rest even for a moment. So the image of the sun is not seen clearly. There are pits and wells too. There too it is not seen. What is the reason? They are covered with scum. The water lies clogged with mud. In that water too the image of the sun is not seen clearly. The water of the Gaṅgā is most holy water. But because it flows, the sun is not seen clearly in it either. Where is the image of the sun seen clearly? Only in still, clear water.
Today, how can the Ātma be seen in the wave within our hearts? How can the reflection called the Ātma be seen in this tank called the heart, which holds kāma, krodha, mada and mātsarya, and more and more besides, plus plus, all these qualities, and lies covered in scum, stinking, in the mud? So, when we purify the citta, bring our thoughts under control and stay still and clear, we gain the vision of our own svarūpa. This thing called nature is a stream racing headlong, not a motionless tank. It changes moment by moment. In a changing world we must create for ourselves a Manas that does not change. There are three kinds of Manas. One is akāra, the second vikāra, the third sakāra. To these they have also given the names tamas, rajas and sāttvika. The akāra Manas is the evil disposition that is forever thinking only of the faults of others. Shame! Shame! Shame! What do we gain by searching out the faults of others? What fruit comes merely from searching out the failings of others? What use is there in doing such deeds, which waste time? He who realises, ‘I will search out my own faults, I will wipe away my own failings,’ and acts on it, attains the full and supreme principle.
Next, the vikāra Manas. It takes good as bad and bad as good. If someone says yes, this fellow says no. Now, here is a funny thing. In the time of King Bhoja two paṇḍits sat arguing back and forth, saying ‘mīmāṃsamu’, ‘māmāṃsamu’. People think ‘mīmāṃsā’ means logic. No. It means inquiring into the truth of a matter. Two paṇḍits: one Dviśikha, the other Pañcaśikha. To whatever Pañcaśikha said, Dviśikha gave his word, ‘I will refute it, saying no.’ Very well! Pañcaśikha got ready to teach him some proper sense. To everything Pañcaśikha asked, Dviśikha had to say ‘no’. For his very first question Pañcaśikha said, ‘The wife of our great King Bhoja is a most devoted wife.’ How could he say that was not so? If you sit determined to say no to everything, how will that do? For that you must look at the time and the occasion. Not to everything. He put the second question. He said, ‘You are your mother's son.’ There was no way to deny that! People like this are called men of vikāra Manas. Whatever anyone says, they refute it, refute it. The knowledge that examines the eternal and the transient is wholly absent in them. There may be dislike of a person, but you must examine the matter. You and he may have some differences of opinion. But you have no right to deny the good he has done. There may be disagreement over the matter, but he is not your enemy. Today the vikāra Manas has grown even more. The vikāra Manas is of the nature of rajoguṇa.
The vikāra Manas is a poisonous snake. It does not go straight. It goes twisting and turning. The thinking of such people, too, never goes straight.